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Impact of single inclined faults on the fluid flow and heat transport - results from 3-D finite element simulations

  • The impact of inclined faults on the hydrothermal field is assessed by adding simplified structural settings to synthetic models. This study is innovative in carrying out numerical simulations because it integrates the real 3-D nature of flow influenced by a fault in a porous medium, thereby providing a useful tool for complex geothermal modelling. The 3-D simulations for the coupled fluid flow and heat transport processes are based on the finite element method. In the model, one geological layer is dissected by a dipping fault. Sensitivity analyses are conducted to quantify the effects of the fault's transmissivity on the fluid flow and thermal field. Different fault models are compared with a model where no fault is present to evaluate the effect of varying fault transmissivity. The results show that faults have a significant impact on the hydrothermal field. Varying either the fault zone width or the fault permeability will result in relevant differences in the pressure, velocity and temperature field. A linear relationship betweenThe impact of inclined faults on the hydrothermal field is assessed by adding simplified structural settings to synthetic models. This study is innovative in carrying out numerical simulations because it integrates the real 3-D nature of flow influenced by a fault in a porous medium, thereby providing a useful tool for complex geothermal modelling. The 3-D simulations for the coupled fluid flow and heat transport processes are based on the finite element method. In the model, one geological layer is dissected by a dipping fault. Sensitivity analyses are conducted to quantify the effects of the fault's transmissivity on the fluid flow and thermal field. Different fault models are compared with a model where no fault is present to evaluate the effect of varying fault transmissivity. The results show that faults have a significant impact on the hydrothermal field. Varying either the fault zone width or the fault permeability will result in relevant differences in the pressure, velocity and temperature field. A linear relationship between fault zone width and fluid velocity is found, indicating that velocities increase with decreasing widths. The faults act as preferential pathways for advective heat transport in case of highly transmissive faults, whereas almost no fluid may be transported through poorly transmissive faults.show moreshow less

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Metadaten
Author details:Yvonne CherubiniGND, Mauro CacaceORCiD, Guido BlöcherORCiDGND, Magdalena Scheck-WenderothORCiDGND
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-012-2212-z
ISSN:1866-6280
ISSN:1866-6299
Title of parent work (English):Environmental earth sciences
Publisher:Springer
Place of publishing:New York
Publication type:Article
Language:English
Year of first publication:2013
Publication year:2013
Release date:2017/03/26
Tag:3-D numerical simulations; Coupled fluid flow and heat transport; Fault zone; Finite elements; Hydrothermal field; Inclined faults
Volume:70
Issue:8
Number of pages:16
First page:3603
Last Page:3618
Funding institution:German Federal Ministry of Education and Research in the programme" Spitzenforschung in den neuen Landern [03G0671A/B/C]
Organizational units:Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Umweltwissenschaften und Geographie
Peer review:Referiert
Institution name at the time of the publication:Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Geographie und Geoökologie
Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Geoökologie
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